A Touch of Wind

A movie inside a movie. A documentary inside a fiction story. An experiment. The shooting of the film took place in Buryatia – the South-Eastern part of Russia that is considered the center of Buddhism in Russia. In the fictional story, Moscow actress Julia comes to faraway Buryatia to find the man she once loved. She is terminally ill and Buryatia gives her a second chance. She does not believe in miracles, but a miracle happens… The real actress Julia Aug (prize-winning Moscow actress known by Silent Souls, 2010 Venice FF; Celestial Wives of Meadow Mari, 2013 Venice FF, Rome FF; Intimate Parts, 2013; The Student, Cannes 2016), like her character, is also in Buryatia for the first time. The documentary, filmed during the shooting of the film, shows the real Julia’s feelings and experiences while she discovers the real Buryatia. During her journey, the real Julia, as well as her character, also finds herself in the datsan, she goes to a real Lama to find out her destiny and receives unexpected answers… Julia’s costar, a famous Buryat opera singer Eduard Zhagbaev, becomes a “guide” in Buryatia for her and for the film crew. Buddhist rituals, national celebrations, martial arts, dialogues with local people were shot in real time and were not staged.